The present invention relates to a process for producing a titanium carbide (TiC) whisker from solid raw materials.
As with other ceramic whiskers, an acicular crystal of titanium carbide, that is, a titanium carbide whisker, has a high level of mechanical strength, heat resistance, chemical stability and other properties.
In particular, since the hardness is very excellent, the titanium carbide whisker has attracted attention, for example, as a composite material and a cermet material for carbide tools.
Examples of the process for producing the titanium carbide whisker known in the art include one wherein a titanium halide is reacted with carbon monoxide (see Japanese patent application Kokai publication No. 58-60700 and one wherein a titanium halide is reacted with carbon tetrachloride (see Z. Wokulski, Journal of Crystal Growth, 82 (1987), 427-434).
In these processes, vaporous or gaseous feedstock components are led on a heated substrate through the use of hydrogen gas as a carrier gas to form a titanium carbide whisker on the substrate.
In these processes, however, since hydrogen gas which is highly liable to leak is used as the carrier gas, it is impossible to avoid the risk of explosion during the operation and, at the same time, it is difficult to conduct continuous production, which renders the above-described processes very disadvantageous as a process for mass-producing a titanium carbide whisker.